Five Card Stud - Earliest Form of Stud Poker

This form of poker – with its early roots in the American civil war – today isn’t as popular as other forms of the game.

How Five Card Stud Poker Fares in Poker Circles

Five card stud poker is a great game, but truth be told, it can’t be that great since it’s not respected enough to be included in the infamous World Series of Poker, in which top professional poker players battle out poker games for huge sums of money and a respected title. Nonetheless, this doesn’t stop the game from being a fun one to play for anyone who enjoys poker.

How Five Card Stud Poker is Played

Like other poker variations, five card stud poker uses a standard deck of cards and the same hand rankings are applied. The game is played by two to ten individuals and a dealer. A “hole” (face down) card is dealt to each player, followed by one that is face up. The dealer then places the entire deck of cards down on the table. The first bet is made by the player who has the highest ranking card that can be seen by everyone else (in other words, not the hole card). The next person to place a bet is the one sitting on the left side of the first better and he or she can choose to stay, raise the pot, fold, or re-raise. At this point the dealer hands out another card (face up) to all remaining players.

Second, Third and Fourth Round of Betting

The player who has the best hand with the two cards facing up starts the next round of betting and can choose to check, bet or drop out. The remaining players can play, drop, fold, stay, raise or re-raise. Another card is then dealt face up and the third round of betting begins (which is an exact replica of the previous round). A further card faced up is dealt and thus players now have a total of five cards. The fourth (and last) round of betting commences and is the same save for the fact that the player placing the bet can also decide to call, instead of just playing or staying. The game starts getting really exciting at this point as the betting is over and the players have to hand over their hole cards.

Notes on Betting in Five Card Stud Poker

After each betting round, players who are still playing are able to swap one, two or three cards that they are holding, for new ones. If the player happens to be holding an Ace card, he can get rid of his other four cards but in most cases must show that he indeed does have an Ace. Players are never forced to trade any cards; with a good hand they might choose to keep what they have rather than try their luck with other cards.

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